Dutch housing market update April 2024 – “overbidding becoming more common again”

Over the last few months we are hearing from more and more home-buyers that it is becoming more difficult to close a deal with a seller. A lot of competition from other potential buyers is resulting in heavy overbidding.  To give you some latest insights we discussed the market situation with real-estate agent Nick Wagelaar from Your Dutch Home. Like us he specializes in expat clients and he is mainly active in the region Almere, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Haarlem.

“Whether and how much overbidding occurs depends on the location, the condition of a house, and the pricing. A property must be completely finished and have a good energy label,” says Nick. “Then, easily 40.000,- or 50.000,- euro is overbid. It’s especially an urban trend at the moment. In smaller towns or further away, we see it happening much less. In the price segment for starters, up to around 435.000,- euro, you regularly see overbidding up to about 20 percent. As a buyer’s agent, I advise clients on what a house is worth. But when they hear that there are over 25 viewings, they know: they won’t make it with that amount. Then it’s up to them, do they participate in a bidding war and pay much more? People who currently pay a lot of rent and or have a good income are very eager to buy at the moment.”

There is also overbidding in around these big cities, but certainly not always. Nick mentions that in town like Hoorn or Purmerend home-buyers are clearly look at energy labels. “Older homes have a harder time on the market”. He sees a lot of interest, especially up to a price range of about 400.000,- euro. “And then there’s overbidding between 2 and 8 percent.”

Analysts from various banks in the Netherlands expect house prices to rise this year, between 5% and 8%. With significantly higher wages and slightly lower mortgage rates, people can afford a higher mortgage again. Over the past few months, the average interest rate for a 10-year fixed-rate mortgage with National Mortgage Guarantee has dropped from around 4.5% to about 3.9%. Properties that require renovations are less popular at the moment. “If it’s a house that needs another 75.000,- euro or more to be renovated, you usually don’t see overbidding issues.”

Last year, the percentage of houses sold above the asking price increased. At the end of 2023, this applied to just over half of the houses, according to the real estate agents’ association NVM. During the Covid property boom, when mortgage rates were extremely low, this was even higher: over 80%. Nick expects that in 2024 you will continue to see more frequent and higher overbidding. “The market here is extremely overheated now,” says Nick. Last week, there was a house with an asking price of 650.000,- that sold for 775.000,- euro.” According to Nick, it also depends on how competitively you market your house. “With a good price, you have more viewers and more overbidding. If you ask too much, you’ll have few viewers.”

Request a free intake meeting

If you would like to discuss the current housing market and mortgage landscape, you can always reach out to us or to Nick from Your Dutch Home for an online intake session. These sessions are always free of charge.